Ducati announces new engine for Panigale

October 11, 2011

Ducati has released details on the engine for its new 1199 Panigale. The engine, dubbed the Superquadro, was designed to increase power, torque and user-friendliness and reduce vehicle weight and scheduled maintenance costs.

The Superquadro is a twin-cylinder 195-hp engine. Only the 90-degree L-twin configuration and Desmodromic valve control were retained from previous engines. Everything else, the company says, is new.

Features include, but aren’t limited to:
- A bore and stroke of 112 mm X 60.8 mm with a ratio of 1.84:1
- An output of 195 hp at 10,750 rpm and 98.1 lb.-ft. of torque
- Inlet valves increased from 43.5 mm to 46.8 mm and exhaust valves increased from 34.5 mm to 38.2 mm
- A highly-efficient MotoGP-style vacuum pump

The engine was also designed with user-friendly riding modes that deliver power appropriate to the rider’s style and environment, and major services have been extended to 15,000 miles. A radical reduction in overall vehicle weight was also found, in part by a centrifugal flyweight that allows the engine to be started easily without using a larger battery and starter motor, reducing the weight by about 7.3 pounds. A new transmission also increases the “dimension between the centers of the six-speed gearbox shafts, enabling larger diameter, stronger gears to transmit the enhanced power output,” Ducati’s press release said. Also new is a “wet”, oil-bath clutch.

The 1199 Ducati Panigale will be unveiled during the EICMA International Motorcycle Show in Milan, Italy, which runs Nov. 10-13.